Webelos I & II is a 20-month program for 4th and 5th grade kids to prepare to join a Boy Scout troop while learning outdoors skills and participating in different activity badges. This group gradually changes from being an adult-run den to being a kid-run patrol ready to fit right into an adventurous scouting troop. This migration requires the parents and den leaders to give the scouts more and more control, decision-making power, and responsibility as they progress in skills, abilities, and maturity.
The trail to the destination is as rewarding as the destination, but Along the way Webelos learn to recognize a goal, the requirements to fulfill the goal, and the ambition to accomplish the goal. We gradually give them more tasks to do, such as taking attendance, checking uniforms, leading flag ceremonies, making announcements, preparing snacks, planning Webelos activity outings, organizing campouts, and leading entire meetings.
Each scout is responsible for his own advancement and there will be few ‘den-wide’ completions of activity badges – each kid will complete on his own schedule. We concentrate on having more patrol games, contests, and skill-building rather than activities directly related to an activity badge at our den meetings – this causes each scout to perform more of the activity badge requirements on his own and then contact the den leader for sign off. Again, this is a gradual change over a few months and we still do activity badge projects and tasks at the meetings, but not all of them.
The Webelos program has two major milestones – the Webelos rank badge to be earned around February of 4th grade and the Arrow of Light to be earned around February of 5th grade. The final goal of Webelos is bridging over into a Boy Scout troop selected individually by the scout.